{"id":11275,"date":"2023-05-11T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/?p=11275"},"modified":"2024-09-25T12:49:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T11:49:58","slug":"1626-coronation-charles-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2023\/05\/11\/1626-coronation-charles-i\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1626 coronation: Charles I\u2019s botched political relaunch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a shaky start to his reign, the king intended his coronation to bolster his personal image and agenda ahead of the 1626 Parliament. However, things didn\u2019t go according to plan, as Dr Paul Hunneyball<\/a> of our Lords 1558-1603<\/a> section explains<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little went right for Charles I in the opening months of his reign. Following his accession in March 1625, a major outbreak of the plague in London forced him to delay his coronation. His war against Spain, which had initially boosted his popularity, was fast becoming a liability, prohibitively expensive to maintain, and with no prospect of a decisive victory. His marriage to the Catholic princess Henrietta Maria was intended to seal a military alliance with France, but almost from the start this union was prone to tensions and misunderstandings, at both the personal and diplomatic levels. The marriage was also unpopular with Charles\u2019s Protestant subjects, while anxiety about the king\u2019s commitment to reformed religion only deepened when he publicly endorsed anti-Calvinist clerics such as William Laud, bishop of St Davids. Charles\u2019s first Parliament, in the summer of 1625, failed to grant enough taxes to fund the war effort adequately, and ended in an acrimonious attack on the king\u2019s overmighty favourite, the duke of Buckingham<\/a>. A disastrous English assault on the Spanish port of Cadiz that autumn piled further pressure on the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By mid-December, it was clear that a further Parliament was needed to raise fresh funds for the war. It was summoned to meet on 6 February 1626, and Charles decided that his coronation would also take place four days beforehand. The timing was surely deliberate. For a king who took very seriously the idea that he derived his power directly from God, there was great symbolism to be drawn from a coronation on 2 February, the feast of Candlemas, which commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem. Indeed, the order of service as revised by Laud included a long-disused medieval prayer which presented the king as a mediator between God and the people of England.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"An<\/a>
King Charles I by Daniel Mytens. NPG<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If one of the coronation\u2019s intended themes was the divine right of kings, the other was the power and splendour of the monarchy. The initial planning documents envisaged the full ceremonial trappings decreed by tradition: a grand procession (or \u2018entry\u2019) through the city of London; the crowning of both Charles and Henrietta Maria before the assembled peers and bishops of the realm; and a lavish concluding banquet. The king was also determined that his most favoured servants would receive prominent roles in proceedings. Buckingham was appointed high constable of England for the day, meaning that he would serve as one of Charles\u2019s principal escorts, and also supervise the homage of the peers. Similarly, Laud was made acting dean of Westminster Abbey, with oversight of the whole coronation ceremony. The actual dean, John Williams, bishop of Lincoln, who had recently incurred the king\u2019s displeasure and been dismissed as lord keeper of the great seal, was abruptly instructed to stand aside, and banned from attending the coronation at all. In effect, Charles was seizing the opportunity to affirm his commitment to his inner circle of advisors, in the knowledge that they were likely to face fresh attacks in the new Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This assertive strategy unravelled with remarkable speed. Quite apart from the lingering presence of the plague in London, which made large gatherings inadvisable, it quickly became apparent that the king simply couldn\u2019t afford a spectacle on this scale. With the royal finances so overstretched by the war that the crown jewels were being offered as collateral in loan negotiations, on 17 January the grand \u2018entry\u2019 was formally postponed for five months. The coronation banquet was scrapped entirely a day or two later. These economy measures reportedly saved Charles \u00a360,000, but in the words of one contemporary commentator the coronation was now \u2018private without any show or feast\u2019 [Letters of John Chamberlain<\/em> ed. N.E. McClure, ii. 627]. Next, a key element of the coronation service itself was axed, after Henrietta Maria insisted that only a Catholic bishop could crown her, a condition unacceptable to the Anglican establishment. A rapid burst of cross-Channel diplomacy failed to generate a compromise solution, and by 27 January it was clear that the queen would not even be present in Westminster Abbey to witness her husband\u2019s crowning. However, she was by no means the only absentee. Letters of summons for the nobility were not issued until 19 January, barely a fortnight before the coronation. With the winter roads in poor condition, these messages took a week or more to reach the peers in farther-flung counties, leaving them too little time to make the journey to London. While a handful stayed away because they were Catholic or currently in disgrace, a substantial number more were prevented from attending simply by these logistical difficulties. In total some 47 noblemen, nearly half of the English and Welsh peerage, missed the ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the coronation day finally dawned, Charles went by boat from Whitehall Palace to Westminster, accompanied by Buckingham and a handful of other favoured courtiers. The earl marshal, the earl of Arundel, had arranged for the royal party to disembark at a private water-gate near the House of Commons, belonging to Sir Robert Cotton<\/a>. However, both Arundel and Cotton were viewed at court as Buckingham\u2019s enemies, and, in what was seen as a deliberate snub to them, the royal barge sailed straight past the assembled welcoming party and on to Parliament Stairs, the landing stage closest to the House of Lords. Unfortunately, as it approached land, the barge became stuck in the Thames mud some distance short of the jetty, and the king was obliged to clamber across several other small boats in order to come ashore.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"View<\/a>
Westminster Abbey, Hall and Parliament House
Wenceslaus Hollar 17th c
CC by NC National Galleries Scotland<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After robing up in the Lords, and proceeding with rather more decorum to Westminster Hall, Charles was formally presented with the regalia. He then continued on foot in a somewhat smaller-than-planned procession to the abbey. Here further mishaps ensued. In the first set-piece of the coronation itself, the king was introduced to the assembled throng by the archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbot. Following a short speech by the primate, the congregation was supposed to acclaim Charles as its rightful monarch. However, \u2018whether some expected he should have spoken more, [or] others hearing not well what he said hindered those by questioning which might have heard, \u2026 or that those which were nearest doubted what to do, \u2026 not one word followed, till my lord of Arundel told them they should cry out \u201cGod save King Charles\u201d\u2019 [Original Letters illustrative of English History<\/em> ed. H. Ellis, series 1, iii. 217]. The sermon, a further affirmation that the king derived his authority direct from God, was inaudible to most of those present; the preacher, Richard Senhouse, bishop of Carlisle, was terminally ill, and reportedly looked like his days were numbered. During the communion service, the choir missed the musical cue for the Gloria, which was consequently said rather than sung. Fortunately the rest of the ceremony went broadly according to plan, a complacent Laud noting in his diary that \u2018amidst an incredible concourse of people, nothing was lost, or broke, or disordered\u2019 [Works of William Laud<\/em> ed. J. Bliss, iii. 181].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four days later Parliament met again, and within weeks it was clear that the coronation had failed completely to improve the political climate. No new taxes were granted, several of Laud\u2019s fellow anti-Calvinists once again came under attack, and Charles eventually dissolved the session to save Buckingham from impeachment. Relations between the king and queen continued to deteriorate, and by the end of the year England and France were on the brink of war. Charles even contrived to offend the city of London, on whose financiers he depended heavily, by cancelling the postponed \u2018entry\u2019 in May 1626 after significant sums had already been spent by the citizens on preparations. Nevertheless, the coronation\u2019s shortcomings pale into insignificance against the dramas of the next 23 years, and no one who witnessed it can have known that the medieval regalia were being used for the last time \u2013 prior to their destruction in 1649 after the king\u2019s execution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PMH<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further reading:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roy Strong, <\/em>Coronation: a History of Kingship and the British Monarchy (2005)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Manner of the Coronation of King Charles the First ed. C. Wordsworth (1892)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biographies of Charles I as prince of Wales, George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, Thomas Howard, 21st earl of Arundel, William Laud, bishop of St Davids (later archbishop of Canterbury), John Williams, bishop of Lincoln (later archbishop of York), and Richard Senhouse, bishop of Carlisle feature in our volumes on <\/em>The House of Lords 1604-29 ed. Andrew Thrush (2021).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a shaky start to his reign, the king intended his coronation to bolster his personal image and agenda ahead of the 1626 Parliament. However, things didn\u2019t go according to plan, as Dr Paul Hunneyball of our Lords 1558-1603 section explains\u2026 Little went right for Charles I in the opening months of his reign. Following his accession in March 1625, a major outbreak of the … Continue reading The 1626 coronation: Charles I\u2019s botched political relaunch<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135730683,"featured_media":11278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[754660295,7086711,73396375,774275574,774275558],"tags":[350831336,52191223,1141228,1705667,14206130,35890,13829016,762352817,762341222,145811,641132,3223050],"class_list":["post-11275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-revolutionary-stuart-parliaments","category-17th-century-history","category-parliamentary-buildings","category-charles-i","category-stuart","tag-archbishop-george-abbot","tag-archbishop-william-laud","tag-coronation","tag-crown-jewels","tag-duke-of-buckingham","tag-featured","tag-henrietta-maria","tag-high-constable-of-england","tag-john-williams-bishop-of-lincoln","tag-plague","tag-westminster-abbey","tag-westminster-hall"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/charles-i-with-regalia-daniel-mytens-npg.png?fit=1000%2C1637&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QYNW-2VR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10861,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2023\/03\/30\/st-edwards-crown-a-restoration-gift-from-parliament\/","url_meta":{"origin":11275,"position":0},"title":"St Edward\u2019s Crown: a Restoration gift from Parliament","author":"History of Parliament","date":"March 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"During the coronation of King Charles III this May, he will be crowned with the St Edward's Crown. Dr Andrew Barclay, senior research fellow of our\u00a0House of Lords 1640-1660 project, reflects on the origin of this crown and its purpose as a gift to an earlier King Charles. The central\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Revolutionary Stuart Parliaments"","block_context":{"text":"Revolutionary Stuart Parliaments","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/revolutionary-stuart-parliaments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/st_edwards_crown_by_francis_sandford.png?fit=882%2C980&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/st_edwards_crown_by_francis_sandford.png?fit=882%2C980&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/st_edwards_crown_by_francis_sandford.png?fit=882%2C980&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/st_edwards_crown_by_francis_sandford.png?fit=882%2C980&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11144,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2023\/04\/25\/coronation-of-george-ii-and-queen-caroline-11-october-1727\/","url_meta":{"origin":11275,"position":1},"title":"\u2018The most solemn, magnificent, and sumptuous ceremony\u2019: The coronation of George II and Queen Caroline, 11 October 1727","author":"clittleton6c6ff85dd9","date":"April 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Contemporaries were agreed that the coronation of George II and Queen Caroline on 11 October 1727 was spectacular. In our second Coronation-themed blog, Dr Charles Littleton looks back on the event and considers the roles played by some of those involved in it. For the Swiss traveller C\u00e9sar de Saussure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Georgian Lords"","block_context":{"text":"Georgian Lords","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/georgian-lords\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/front-image-from-book-on-procession-1727.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/front-image-from-book-on-procession-1727.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/front-image-from-book-on-procession-1727.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/front-image-from-book-on-procession-1727.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/front-image-from-book-on-procession-1727.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3624,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2019\/09\/19\/the-house-of-lords-outside-parliament-time-1604-1629\/","url_meta":{"origin":11275,"position":2},"title":"The House of Lords Outside Parliament Time, 1604-1629","author":"Andrew Thrush","date":"September 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Continuing our theme of alternative functions once served by the palace of Westminster, Dr Andrew Thrush of the Lords 1604-29 section considers activities at the southern end of the complex in the early seventeenth century\u2026 During the early modern period parliaments were neither regular nor particularly frequent but sat at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "James I to Restoration"","block_context":{"text":"James I to Restoration","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/james-i-to-restoration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/house-of-lords-in-1644-hollar-e1568638482518.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/house-of-lords-in-1644-hollar-e1568638482518.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/house-of-lords-in-1644-hollar-e1568638482518.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/house-of-lords-in-1644-hollar-e1568638482518.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/house-of-lords-in-1644-hollar-e1568638482518.jpg?fit=1200%2C1199&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11052,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2023\/04\/06\/peerage-and-coronation-george-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":11275,"position":3},"title":"The Peerage and the Coronation of George I","author":"stuart03630ebada","date":"April 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The death of Queen Anne on 1 August 1714 heralded the arrival of a new dynasty in Britain \u2013 literally \u2013 the kingdom had to await the arrival of the new king from Hanover on 18 September. Continuing our Coronation blog series, Dr Stuart Handley examines the preparations for and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Georgian Lords"","block_context":{"text":"Georgian Lords","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/georgian-lords\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/download.png?fit=1200%2C694&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/download.png?fit=1200%2C694&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/download.png?fit=1200%2C694&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/download.png?fit=1200%2C694&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/download.png?fit=1200%2C694&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11039,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2023\/04\/18\/mps-queen-victorias-coronation\/","url_meta":{"origin":11275,"position":4},"title":"A ‘noble’ and ‘magnificent’ occasion: MPs and Queen Victoria’s coronation","author":"Kathryn Rix","date":"April 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Recent reports indicate that the coronation of King Charles III will have a reduced audience; less than 100 MPs and peers have been formally invited.\u00a0Dr Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of our\u00a0Commons 1832-1868\u00a0project, reflects on the guestlist for Queen Victoria's coronation and the privileged view MPs had of proceedings. Like the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Victorian Commons"","block_context":{"text":"Victorian Commons","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/victorian-commons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/coronation_of_queen_victoria_28_june_1838_by_sir_george_hayter.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/coronation_of_queen_victoria_28_june_1838_by_sir_george_hayter.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/coronation_of_queen_victoria_28_june_1838_by_sir_george_hayter.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/coronation_of_queen_victoria_28_june_1838_by_sir_george_hayter.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/coronation_of_queen_victoria_28_june_1838_by_sir_george_hayter.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11119,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2023\/05\/02\/coronation-of-edward-vii\/","url_meta":{"origin":11275,"position":5},"title":"MPs and the coronation of Edward VII","author":"Kathryn Rix","date":"May 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The members of the House of Lords have traditionally been far more involved with coronations than their Commons counterparts, and for the coronation of Edward VII it was Viscount Esher who worked closely with the king to plan the ceremony and adapt its traditions to suit the times. However, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern"","block_context":{"text":"Modern","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/periods\/post-1945-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/edwardviithe-homage-giving-westminster-abbey-9th-august-1902npg.jpg?fit=800%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/edwardviithe-homage-giving-westminster-abbey-9th-august-1902npg.jpg?fit=800%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/edwardviithe-homage-giving-westminster-abbey-9th-august-1902npg.jpg?fit=800%2C410&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/edwardviithe-homage-giving-westminster-abbey-9th-august-1902npg.jpg?fit=800%2C410&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135730683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11275"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11297,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11275\/revisions\/11297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}